We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kevyn Lee-Wellington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kevyn , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I am a spiritual man. I simply lean into my faith into something greater than myself, which to simplify I’ll call it God. I call upon the spirit of my ancestors for strength, protection and discernment; and I call upon spiritual energies of all things love and goodness. So, when I am confronted with challenges and obstacles is it vitally important for me get still and assess what life in that moment is trying to tell and teach me. I also am of the opinion, that I am inherently a tenacious man. Life for me has never been a crystal staircase, but despite all that has ever occurred to me in my life I have always been rooted in the thought that, you can’t control what happens to you in life you can only control your response to what happens to you…and I choose to not give up or waver. ,
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Fluffy’s Sno-Balls was a 16-year dream differed of mine. God has turned it into a destiny fulfilled. I created and started this company in the midst of a pandemic and it has currently been rated by Yelp as the #1 Ice Cream Shop in California and the Top #5 Ice Cream Shop in the Nation. Fluffy’s Sno-Balls is a New Orleans Mardi Gras theme concept that make authentic New Orleans Sno-Balls, which is a shaved ice confection topped with over 70+ flavors. Fluffy’s Sno-Balls is such an exciting and dynamic company. Not only be nationally recognized and beating out many of its leading competitors; but also for re-inventing the sno-ball. Fluffy’s Sno-Balls have created the, “Voodoo” sno-balls which literally have cool smoke flowing out of the sides of the cup, which customer enjoy their delicious sno-ball. Fluffy’s Sno-Balls is also growing. The company has opened a second location in the Great City of Los Angeles, located at 2105 W. Century Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. 90047. On October 7th Fluffy’s Sno-Balls will be celebrating the Grand Opening of their second location.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Leadership, Operations, and Effective Communication & Emotional Intelligence.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I am an avid reader and I am also a graduate of the illustrious Tuskegee University. I have learned so much about history, politics, business, and human connections through a plethora of sources. From James Baldwin to Dr. Daniel Black; from Booker T. Washington to W.E.B DuBois, from Taiiichi Ohio to Oprah Winfrey, from Dale Carnegie to Les Brown. These are just some of the notable people I have learned from which have had a profound impact on my life. However, I will be remiss if I don’t acknowledge the people in my inner circle or people less famous which too have had a profound impact on my life, my leadership, and my development as a man. My grandmother, my aunts, my friends young and old have given me jewels that I can place in my intellectual crown…and I wear it proudly.
Booker T. Washington, in his book Up From Slavery taught me the power of creating. “Among a large class, there seemed to be a dependence upon the government for every conceivable thing. The members of this class had little ambition to create a position for themselves, but wanted the federal officials to create one for them. How many times I wished then and have often wished since, that by some power of magic, I might remove the great bulk of these people into the country districts and plant them upon the soil – upon the solid and never deceptive foundation of Mother Nature, where all nations and races that have ever succeeded have gotten their start – a start that at first may be slow and toilsome, but one that nevertheless is real.” I came to California as a result of Hurricane Katrina, which is the worse hurricane to hit our country. I wanted and hoped the government would step in an help us; and they never did. Then I had to think about what Booker T. said and that has stuck with me ever since.
W.E.B. Dubois who espoused opposite views of Washington taught me the power of knowledge and education. To this day I tell young Black and Brown kids that education is like a spaceship it’ll take you wherever you want to go even out of this world. I read Dubois’s Talented Tenth, ““The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races.” When I created Fluffy’s Sno-Balls, I knew that with my education I could create a company that would be infrastructurally solid and lasting but will appeal to the masses. It very rare for me to define myself as a small business or small black-owned business. I don’t think of myself in that way. I believe in my own greatness, and the greatness of my company and how it will challenge the status quo; all the while create a company through franchisement that will allow my people who are serious to become success business owners.
James Baldwin taught me about dealing with the intersections of race, gender and sexuality. Although it was simple it was poignant. Baldwin wrote in an essay decades ago, “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” has allow me to do the inner work within myself which have allowed me to embrace the complexities and the multi-dimensionality of my personality and still love who and all that I am, as a gay black man.
Dr. Daniel Black is one of my contemporary elders who I just love and adore. In his book Perfect Peace, Dr. Black wrote, “God has a way of making sure you reach your destiny, regardless of what others do to you.” Building out my second location one quite the challenge. Dealing with sometimes rude, ambiguous and intentionally intimidating inspectors made the process grueling. There was one inspector that came by and told me everything was wrong. I contacted his superior and drafted a formal letter of complaint regarding his unprofessionalism, deportment and his intentional intimidation when questioned. The superior contacted me directly and come to perform the inspection rather thoroughly and found no issues and sign off. During that process all I kept saying to myself was, “God, I surrender, may your will be done, I just have a couple of request.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fluffyssnoballs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluffyssnoballs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FluffysSnoBalls
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FluffySno
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovmM9zdBNVx2RyipcF04hA?view_as=subscriber
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fluffys-sno-balls-long-beach?osq=Fluffy%27s+Sno-Balls
